


I'll Find You

by Glass_Oceans



Series: The Ficlet Collection [48]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-05-09 22:22:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14724690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glass_Oceans/pseuds/Glass_Oceans
Summary: The way you said “I love you” prompts -  Broken, as you clutch the sleeve of my jacket and beg me not to leave—I won’t be too mean :D so, any pairing





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Content notes: past trauma, Revenge

Hux stepped up to the bedside, schooling his face against the stench of cleaning fluids that were spread liberally about the space in an attempt to cover up those baser, organic odours. His hands were clasped behind his back, as if this were no more than a simple parade inspection, though he knew the figure in the bed before him neither wanted or would appreciate his touch. 

So many words burned in Hux’s throat, desperate to be unleashed, but they gathered and raged against his teeth. He was desperate to speak them, to give them to the air at last, but he couldn’t afford to say them, not here, not ever. Not for the risk to his career, his reputation. He’d come to far for that. 

“Sir?”

Hux stirred as a white-clad medical officer approached him, a tightness around their eyes. 

“I’m sorry sir, but there isn’t long. We need to get him into the bacta tank. If there was anything you wanted to say…”

He trailed off, but Hux nodded crisply, and thankfully the medic stepped back, giving Hux the space he needed. He stared down at a pair of eyes that were grey and bright with pain, and sweat damp hair on a pillow that if dry would mirror his own. Hux felt his anger surging again as he recalled everything this man had done to him in the name of an organisation he loved more than his own flesh and blood. 

Hux blinked and he was four years old again, desperately clinging to his brother as uniformed strangers tried to pull them apart. William was crying, his nails raking across Armitage’s skin as the men pulled at them, but Armitage refused to give him up. His hold was sure until Brendol stepped forward, muttering impatiently and backhanded Armitage across the face, stunning him enough that for a moment his hold was broken, and William’s cry became shrill as they were separated. 

“Take him away,” Brendol muttered, and one of the men moved to grab Armitage’s arm, hauling him towards the transport Brendol had summoned outside. Armitage shook his head to clear it as he was hauled to his feet, dragged along until sense returned and he fought lose from the grip, swinging back around to take William’s hands in his. 

“Don’t leave me,” William begged, his eyes red with the tears streaming down his face. “Please, Armi, please, don’t let them take me.”

William squealed as a hand gripped tight around him again, pulling him away. Armitage lashed out at it as best he could, pulling William close. 

“I’ll find you,” he hissed, “I’ll find you, I promise. Just wait for me. I love you, William, I will come back.”

Armitage couldn’t tell if William heard him, his voice rose and cracked as he was dragged away. Armitage wanted to roar at his father and his soldiers for this cruelty, for his pain he was causing to both his sons, but his father’s gloved fist came down hard on the back of his head and everything faded to black. 

Hux breathed deep the sterile air of the medbay as he shook off the memory, and he could see his father’s eyes flinch at the hardness in Armitage’s eyes. Now, Hux thought, now he knew what to say. He leaned in close, until there was barely any space between them, and whispered to Brendol. 

“I’ve found him.”

He waited for those eyes to widen in shock, and as his father began to react to the knowledge, mouth flapping open uselessly, limbs flailing as he sought to hit Hux one more time, Hux stepped back and allowed the medical team to sedate him for immersion in the bacta tank. The news had been a clear shock to his system, one that with any luck would hasten his demise. Hux stepped away and put Brendol from his mind as he returned to his quarters, needing to check on the status of a special mission he’d deployed, which by now, should be returning with most precious cargo.


	2. I'm Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *flails Owl wings helplessly* I need more of that story where Hux finds his brother again!

Techie ran.

Troopers had come. Troopers had killed Ma-Ma. Yes she’d taken his eyes, but she’d also given him his room where no-one came to disturb him but her. She would sometimes whisper to his with alcohol on her breath and a sharp blade against his stomach, making him tense and shiver with fear, but then she’d leave and it might be weeks before he saw her again. He never went hungry. He had a job to do. And all he had to do was pretend the past never happened.

Until the Troopers came.

He’d been so careful. He had never whispered his old name. Never mentioned any of the connections as he was sold as a slave from one cartel to another until Ma-Ma took a liking to him and decided to keep him, tying him down to a single place. So he was careful to never use certain words, to never let them be associated with him, so the trail couldn’t be traced back to him. But he hadn’t been careful enough, because now his protector was dead, and the Troopers had come.

So Techie ran.

His body could barely move for fear as he ran from the spectres of his past, the ones that had torn him from the place that should have been home and left him for dead. Air burned thin and raw through his throat as he forced his legs to move, trying to lose his pursuit through tunnels and back ways he had memorised through long hours staring at the station’s plans, but they were always too close behind, only just a step behind.

Techie rounded a corner, colliding hard with a Trooper in red armour, and collapsed to the ground. The Trooper had no weapon in hand, but as he kneeled down, Techie drew in what feeble breath he could and screamed, until blackness claimed him.

***  
“And how is he?”

“Malnourished, showing significant signs of previous injury… Sir, you should know about his eyes…”

“General, he’s awake.”

Techie closed his eyes again as he heard the voice give him away. Through his eyelashes he could see the man in red move away from where he had been talking to an uniformed officer, then the Trooper that had been standing beside him move away at the officer’s – the general’s gesture. As he moved closer, Techie gave up his pretence of sleep and looked up at him.

The red hair above the imperial uniform made Techie’s voice squeeze out in a strangled croak as he attempted to push himself away from the man approaching him. He could feel pressure building behind the mechanical eyes that could not cry, desperation surging through him as he tore at the walls of the transport, frantic and terrified.

“William? William, it’s me.”

It took long moments for the words to filter through to Techie, and when they did he clung to the wall, refusing to turn around. No-one should know that name.

“William, it’s ok. No-one’s going to hurt you.”

Techie collapsed down against the wall until he was able to wrap his arms around his legs, rocking slightly. He wanted to hum to himself, to make some noise that would drown out the unfamiliar environment, but his throat was too tight, too full of fear. 

His eyes were scrunched tight when he felt the very slight pressure of a hand against the back of his neck. At first he flinched away from it, and the hand withdrew, but it returned a moment later, bare fingers toying with the hair at the back of his head, weaving it between the fingers. As he focused on the sensation, he heard something too; a song, sung low and offkey, from a voice that hadn’t been used for anything but giving orders in many years. 

Slowly Techie opened his eyes just a little, peering at the officer beside him. He looked so strange, and so familiar too. The uniform was… different to how he remembered, the one he remembered his father wearing. The officer was looking away, not at Techie, so Techie couldn’t see the colour of his eyes hidden by the pale golden lashes that were brushing his cheeks. But Techie saw when his lips closed, his song come to an end. And with it, his thumb moved, brushing over the shell of his ear, just like-

“Armi?”

Hux looked up, hope flaring in his eyes, a sad smile tugging at the corner of his lips. 

“I made you a promise,” Hux said. “I’m sor-”

Hux’s words were cut off as Techie uncurled and flung himself at Hux, wrapping his arms around Hux’s neck. Techie still felt like he would fly apart at any moment, wake up and discover that this had been nothing more but another rival gang knocking him out, thinking they could defeat Ma-Ma, when Hux’s arms came up and closed around his back, holding him tight. 

“I’m here,” Hux whispered in his ear. “You’re safe now.”

Techie wept.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 85 & 96 pls? Kylo & Techie pls? (85. Innocent Physical Contact & 96\. Scars)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content notes: talk about previous injury, scars

Despite the information at his disposal, a combination of generous bribes and military threats, Armitage knew that he didn’t know the full extent of what William had experienced in the years since their father separated them. He had his own quarters extended, and installed William right next to him;a decision that proved it’s worth when, especially at the start, William would wake up screaming, settled only by the sound of Armitage’s voice. 

Forcing him to talk about his experiences would do the opposite of help, Armitage knew, so he conducted as much work as he could from his quarters, soothing William with his presence until he worked up the nerve to wander further afield. And when he did, Armitage arranged full access to all areas for him, so he’d never feel trapped, and advised all troops and officers to not bother or approach him, then set up a private feed to his datapad so he could track William’s movements through the ship. 

His wanderings were mostly harmless. He gravitated to unoccupied areas, finding hiding holes where he would curl up until Armitage came to fetch him for dinner. So when Armitage one day found him entering a gym that had only one other occupant, he put aside the reports he had been reviewing and gave the security feed his full attention. 

William lingered by the door at first, sleeves of his oversized sweatshirt pulled over his hands, which worried at each other through the fabric. After a moment more, Kylo Ren set down his weight, and sat up on the bench. 

“You can come closer, if you like.”

William hesitated a moment and gradually shuffled closer. Kylo looked away as he did, towelling the sweat from his chest. He didn’t look up again until William had come to a stop in front of him, one sleeve now pressed to his lips. He stared down at Kylo until Kylo followed his gaze towards his own shoulder, and the scar tissue there. 

“You can touch it,” Kylo said. 

William reached out slowly, hesitating. 

“It’s ok,” Kylo said, “you’re not going to hurt me.”

William completed the motion, fingers skittering over the raised white tissue on Kylo’s shoulder. 

“That was from debris from an explosion,” Kylo said as Williams’s fingers traced the outline. “It was a fairly shallow cut, didn’t hurt much.”

Kylo held still as William explored the scar, not moving again until he’d withdrawn his hand. 

“Yes,” he said nodding, though William hadn’t said a word, “I’ve plenty more.”

He swung his leg over the bench, exposing his back to William. William’s fingers were instantly drawn to the starburst just below his shoulder blade. 

“That one was from a lightsaber,” he said as William traced each ragged line out from the centre and back. 

When his hand withdrew, Kylo stood slowly, gesturing to a series on lines on his side. William reached out to them, but Kylo flinched as he touched them causing William to retreat a half step, only to have Kylo take hold of his hand and guide if back to his side. 

“I’m just ticklish,” Kylo said as he took his hand away. “I got those from a wild animal during an exploration on a wild moon. It was gone before I could even see what it looked like.”

“Do they still hurt?” William asked, so quietly that Armitage barely heard the question through the security feed. 

“Sometimes,” Kylo admitted. 

“How do you stand it?” William asked, looking up at Kylo, his mechanical eyes whirring as they focused. 

“You find a way to be strong,” Kylo replied, “and you keep going forward.”

“I’m not a warrior.”

“And you don’t have to be. You just need to find your own path.”

William took his hand back, pulling his sleeve back over his fingers. He nodded to Kylo, and to himself as he rocked back, retreating into his own thoughts as he withdrew from the room. Kylo remained standing as he watched him go, waiting until the door had closed behind him before looking up directly into the security camera. 

Armitage blinked to be watched so directly, but he knew what Kylo was waiting for. 

“Thank you,” he said. 

Kylo smiled and returned to his workout.


End file.
